In the Chaos Sea, a long-lived fish turned; in Xuandu City, a Sage passed by.

When the several Sages of Xuandu City met briefly, they left behind some memorable discourse.

Li Changshou began the complete acceptance process for the [Kunpeng Ark]—at minimum, he would need to thoroughly inspect it dozens of times and understand the basic principles of Senior Predecessor Lang’s techniques, otherwise his heart would remain unsettled.

Indeed, the more cautious he was now, the more it showed his respect for Senior Predecessor Lang!

As the saying goes, one takes on the color of one’s company—just as those near vermillion become red, those near longevity become steady. Fairy Yunxiao had become much more prudent compared to when she first met Li Changshou.

She was now searching back and forth through this secret realm of the Kunpeng, not missing a single corner, carefully comprehending every formation array.

After all, Li Changshou had mentioned before that this place could potentially become their secret base in the future, perfect for discussing the Dao together while avoiding the gaze of both the Sages and Heaven’s Dao.

A trysting—ahem, a secret base for discussing the Dao.

What Li Changshou hadn’t anticipated was that the strand of Primordial Purple Qi which he had actively given up and forced the Kunpeng to merge with its Primordial Spirit would now become his source of worry.

After searching through the Kunpeng’s Primordial Spirit several times, he discovered that the Purple Qi had completely merged with the Kunpeng’s Primordial Spirit;

If the Kunpeng’s Primordial Spirit were destroyed, that strand of Primordial Purple Qi would vanish along with it—separating the two had become entirely impossible.

Such an annoying reversal of fortune.

Li Changshou had adapted quickly to avoid this strand of Primordial Purple Qi, using Kunpeng’s words to resolve his crisis. It should have been something worth celebrating, but as he smiled about it, he realized the Kunpeng was Senior Predecessor Lang’s “hometown gift package.”

It was just…

Just very troublesome.

Thus, Li Changshou couldn’t help but start connecting the dots on this matter.

Regarding the Dao Ancestor, Li Changshou had never hesitated to view him as the ‘Ultimate Schemer.’

Now that he had directly experienced Senior Predecessor Lang’s methods when looking back at the victor of that ancient duel, Li Changshou truly didn’t dare show even the slightest carelessness, and could only consider things from the deepest perspective possible.

And feared even that wasn’t deep enough.

Could it be that this entire situation was calculated by the Dao Ancestor?

Had the Dao Ancestor taken into account his personality, his unwillingness to use this strand of Primordial Purple Qi, and even Senior Predecessor Lang’s past calculations regarding the Kunpeng;

Using a strand of Primordial Purple Qi in the end to transform the Kunpeng into a tool of Heaven’s Dao?

Hiss—

The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

After Pangu’s divine death, the Will of Heaven’s Dao, Dao Ancestor Hongjun, Demon Ancestor Luohou, Senior Predecessor Lang, Ancestor Dragon, and First Phoenix became the strongest wills in Heaven and Earth.

The “game rules between them” that Senior Predecessor Lang spoke of, “them” referred to exactly this group.

In the end, when Senior Predecessor Lang calmly faced the predicament of defeat, he could have directly fled riding the Kunpeng, yet still decided to return to the Hongmeng World to secretly compete with the Dao Ancestor…

Among these sovereign-level figures from ancient times, both public and hidden, who remained now?

Only Hongjun the Dao Ancestor.

Though the Dao Ancestor had merged with Heaven’s Dao, he subtly sat above it.

The complete impression of being the Hongmeng World’s ruler!

How could someone of this caliber, such a supreme being, simply use Heaven’s Dao’s “wealth password” Primordial Purple Qi to merely interfere with a small calculation of his minor disciple?

To understand issues, one must see through appearances to grasp the essence.

Li Changshou pondered quietly, sitting on the Kunpeng’s back, letting his paper avatar make contact with the Kunpeng’s Primordial Spirit, continuing the next wave of searching and judgment.

As a mere weak civil official of the Heavenly Court, without the strength to bind a complete Kunpeng, facing these old silv—ahem, senior predecessors, he could only be careful, careful, and more careful—cautious, cautious, and more cautious.

The Kunpeng served as a warning from the past.

Later, when reviewing the classics left by Senior Predecessor Lang, any cultivation methods would be burned and destroyed on the spot!

To avoid worse possibilities.

However, would this mean his departure from the Hongmeng World would be too long?

Li Changshou carefully considered, somewhat worried about Ling’e’s safety, and whether the arrangements he had already made would spiral out of control.

“Hehehe…”

His Dao heart trembled as Tower Lord’s spiritual sense bloomed in Li Changshou’s heart, which Li Changshou perceived himself, condensing into a sentence:

“What are you worried about? Just stay here nicely with Fairy Yunxiao for a century or so.

The Master came by earlier, saw you were busy, and didn’t disturb you, then left on his own.”

Li Changshou: …

He couldn’t help but ask quietly, “What was I doing when Master came?”

“Kunpeng, super evolution!”

“Alright, alright, I understand!”

Li Changshou’s old face reddened as he covered his forehead and pondered for a moment.

There wasn’t any privacy in this Chaos Sea.

What realm was Master in, and what kind of household was the Orthodox Teaching?

As long as Master wished, everywhere was a live scene.

Li Changshou silently thanked his Master in his heart, stood up, and made a Daoist salute toward the direction of the Hongmeng World, then organized his thoughts and steadied his state of mind.

Since Master had visited this place, it meant there were no hidden dangers with the transformed Kunpeng, otherwise Master would certainly have given him some warning.

He could begin conducting detailed research now.

Speaking of which, what realm had Master reached?

Compared to the Dao Ancestor before his merger and Senior Predecessor Lang at his peak, Master should only be stronger, not weaker, right?

Probably.

Li Changshou gently exhaled, using his immortal power to support the surrounding chaos qi, slowly concentrating his spirit.

What Li Changshou himself hadn’t anticipated was that this delay in the Chaos Sea would stretch to several decades passing in a flash.

Afterward, what pained him most was…

He had spent most of his time buried in studying the Primordial Purple Qi and the Kunpeng’s Primordial Spirit and with Fairy Yunxiao…

Nothing happened.

In the blink of an eye, it was the thirty-fifth year after the small battle at Xuandu City.

Xuandu City had returned to its leisurely quiet of long years past.

Though there was no news of Li Changshou and Yunxiao, because of that one “passing by” from the Supreme Pure Sage, the Orthodox Teaching’s experts no longer worried much about their safety.

When a Sage Lord speaks, there is naturally great significance, especially the strongest Sage, who treasures words like gold, with boundless meaning contained in every character.

How much information was contained in these simple two words of “passing by”?

Too numerous to count!

According to Baize’s interpretation, the Supreme Pure Lord’s reminder both showed the Supreme Pure Lord’s disregard for peers of the same level and was the most appropriate counter to Sealed One Sage’s words of distancing himself from the matter.

By the way, it also told them that Li Changshou was safe and sound, returning through the Chaos Sea with Fairy Yunxiao.

At the time, the Golden Spirit Holy Mother had asked:

‘How do mere words of passing by indicate Yunxiao and Changshou are safe and sound? You shouldn’t speak carelessly just to flatter.’

Baize smiled and said:

‘Holy Mother, think about it. Since Supreme Pure Lord was passing by, he must have been on the road, going to do something.

At this juncture, what could the Supreme Pure Lord do?

This poor Daoist just noticed that the Supreme Pure Lord’s Dao rhyme has returned to Heaven and Earth, and the power of the Yin-Yang Great Dao is somewhat more profound than before, showing that the Supreme Pure Lord was returning from the Chaos Sea, passing by Xuandu City.

And when the Supreme Pure Lord finally left, he transmitted these words to all of us, the meaning couldn’t be more obvious.

Don’t underestimate these two words of passing by, they’re sufficient to express all this information.

Perhaps this is precisely what makes the Orthodox Teaching’s Sage Lord formidable.’

Golden Spirit Holy Mother couldn’t help but laugh and scold: ‘Great Master Uncle is naturally incredibly formidable, and even the Orthodox Teaching’s mount is extraordinary. If this poor Daoist went to your Orthodox Teaching, I fear I wouldn’t even qualify as a mount.’

Baize was slightly embarrassed and smiled without speaking.

However, after Baize’s explanation, the various immortals of the Orthodox Teaching no longer worried much about Li Changshou’s safety.

With the Supreme Pure Sage’s protection, their worries would be pointless.

In the following years, several waves of experts who had been searching for Li Changshou and Yunxiao returned successively, with Golden Peng Bird, Zhao Gongming, and True Lord Jade Tripod being the last to return.

Golden Peng was quite remorseful.

Originally, he actually had hope of barely keeping up with the Kun fish, but because he was too anxious, the spiritual power of that set of harnesses was consumed too quickly, and he actually had a moment of power exhaustion, watching helplessly as the Kun fish disappeared in the Chaos Sea.

Continuing to chase in the original direction only proved futile.

—Actually, it was because Li Changshou had become somewhat urgent seeing Yunxiao unconscious, threatening the Kunpeng to go to the Kunpeng’s secret realm.

That secret realm in the Chaos Sea was either like a grain of sand or like a towering mountain; without clear coordinates and methods of approach, one could brush past it without noticing anything unusual.

This was a disorder.

Fortunately, with Baize’s explanation, although Golden Peng was remorseful, his Dao’s heart settled down.

While Li Changshou hadn’t returned, Golden Peng kept waiting in Xuandu City, since without his teacher’s orders, he didn’t know what he should do.

The matter of Li Changshou and Fairy Yunxiao chasing the Kunpeng into the Chaos Sea also spread throughout the Hongmeng World.

The Heavenly Court responded in a timely manner, deliberately keeping vague about Li Changshou being swallowed by the Kunpeng and Fairy Yunxiao’s pursuit to rescue him, instead praising how Great White Star-Lord and Fairy Yunxiao fearlessly faced danger and sought steady victory, making outstanding contributions to protecting the Hongmeng World.

They also took the opportunity to list out Kunpeng’s crimes once again.

…

Among all those who received news of Li Changshou and Yunxiao’s disappearance in the Chaos Sea, the last to learn was Ling’e, who had been secluded in meditation at Little Jade Peak.

Regarding her Senior Brother’s safety, Ling’e wasn’t overly worried, her heart filled with blind worship for him.

Instead, she began to worry that her Senior Brother and Sister Yunxiao’s relationship was progressing too quickly and that she would be left behind.

After all, in the dark nameless Chaos Sea, the two depended on each other for survival. It would be easy for their hearts to be moved and minds to be enchanted—like dry tinder meeting a small flame like heaven’s thunder connecting with earth’s energy.

It was normal, she understood, often imagined, but lacked the opportunity.

Ling’e herself felt Sister Yunxiao was too outstanding. Though she couldn’t resent Sister Yunxiao, at the very least, these things should follow some order of priority, right?

She and Senior Brother were the first to become close!

Ah, the most tragic thing in the mortal world wasn’t watching Senior Brother and Sister Yunxiao nest together;

It was that while they nested together, she would have to… help them look after their children…

Thinking of this, Ling’e silently sank herself into the bathtub, using a series of bubbling sounds to express her accusations against the Hongmeng’s Primordial Powerful Beings.

“Nasty Senior Brother, hmph!”

However, Li Changshou could swear on his marriage destiny clay figurine that this time, apart from taking advantage of Cloud’s crisis once, he truly hadn’t done anything else.

There wasn’t any time.

During these thirty-five years, most of his interactions with Yunxiao were related to Kunpeng’s Primordial Spirit and were mainly discussions with her about Senior Predecessor Lang’s techniques.

For example:

“Cloud, look at this—the Kunpeng’s Second Primordial Spirit has indeed completely merged with the Primordial Purple Qi, but is still suppressed by that Predecessor’s restrictions.

In other words, if Heaven’s Dao wanted to control the Kunpeng through the Primordial Purple Qi, it would be blocked by Senior Predecessor Lang’s restrictions.”

“Not necessarily. This place is the Chaos Sea, far from Heaven’s Dao. The Primordial Purple Qi can’t exert much power.

When listening to Master’s teachings, I heard him mention that although the Primordial Purple Qi gave him the ladder to become a Sage, the deeper one merges with the Primordial Purple Qi, the greater the constraints from Heaven’s Dao become.

It’s even possible that Heaven’s Dao could use this thing to influence their judgments.”

“Indeed, your consideration is very important. Let me ponder this further.”

Then after half a year, a year, or three to five years, Li Changshou would meet with Fairy Yunxiao again, each time saying:

“Cloud, guess what I discovered!”

“Regardless of this Predecessor’s character, his mastery of formation restrictions is truly unmatched in the Hongmeng!”

“The concept of this formation is simply too powerful!”

Each time, Yunxiao would watch him with bright eyes and a contained smile, gently observing Li Changshou as he spoke enthusiastically, responding appropriately with a word or two.

She didn’t mind this at all;

Instead, she felt an unexpected sense of stability, imprinting each of Li Changshou’s expressions in her heart.

No matter how long time passed, she could recall them with just a thought.

Until this time, when Li Changshou came running with a joyful expression:

“Cloud, I’ve completely understood the so-called Second Primordial Spirit method. This Predecessor truly has heaven-reaching techniques, worthy of being a mole—ahem, a great figure who followed the God Pangu!”

“Oh?”

Yunxiao gave an appropriate questioning response, preparing herself to listen to his ramblings.

Li Changshou smiled and said:

“When the Kunpeng’s Primordial Spirit acts as the ark’s main control, its consciousness is completely muddled!

That Predecessor split Kunpeng’s Second Primordial Spirit in two—one part is the appearance of Demon Teacher Kunpeng, and the other part is the essence of the ark’s main control.

I’ve now figured out a method that can make the Primordial Purple Qi completely merge with either the Kunpeng’s personality or with the ark’s main control.”

Yunxiao thought for a moment and asked: “Comparing the two, which is more stable?”

Li Changshou said: “Merging with the ark’s main control side is naturally the most stable.

The ark’s main control is just a set of formation programming, which can be understood as a treasure’s spirit, but without any ‘self’ consciousness.

That Predecessor did quite well on this point.

In other words, if the Primordial Purple Qi cannot influence specific true spirits, it instead loses its binding effect on living beings.

This strand of purple qi becomes a key—a key to open Heaven’s Dao’s gate!”

“It should be more stable,” Yunxiao said seriously, “Unless absolutely necessary, don’t oppose Heaven’s Dao.”

“Alright, I’ll listen to you on this.”

Li Changshou and Yunxiao smiled at each other, then he hurriedly returned to the Kun fish to continue pondering.

Yunxiao blinked, closed her eyes to concentrate, and meditated in a corner of the formation filled with blooming flowers.

After this, Li Changshou was delayed for a long time without appearing.

In Yunxiao’s perception, about seven or eight years passed. Worried that Li Changshou might be in trouble, she actively went to the Kun fish to look for him, meeting him who had ‘coincidentally’ come to find her.

Very obviously, Li Changshou had discovered Yunxiao’s traces and actively left the secret chamber in Kunpeng’s heart vessel.

“What’s wrong?”

Yunxiao asked gently: “Have you encountered difficulties? Do you need to discuss them with me?”

“It’s not quite difficult, just that I saw some future situations, and started thinking about my arrangements for various future matters, then lost track of time.”

Li Changshou sighed, seeming to want to speak but stopping himself.

Yunxiao waited quietly, her eyes showing some expectation.

But in the end, Li Changshou said:

“The research on the Kunpeng’s Primordial Spirit is about done, let’s head back first, to avoid everyone worrying too much.

Cloud, do you remember the direction to the Hongmeng World?”

“Of course I do,” Yunxiao answered softly.

Seeing Li Changshou hand over the jade tablet controlling the Kunpeng, she didn’t hesitate to take it.

“You drive it, try how it feels.”

Li Changshou smiled and said: “Don’t go too fast on the way back, I need some more days to think.”

Yunxiao asked: “Did you see something thorny through this strand of purple qi?”

Li Changshou sighed slowly: “Indeed, I truly can’t hide it from you.

My mood is somewhat troubled now. Let me think it through before deciding whether to tell you about these worries.

Here we’re quite far from the Hongmeng, the Primordial Purple Qi should have lost its connection with Heaven’s Dao, those scenes should be what Ancestral Master intended me to see.

I can’t determine yet if this is a story arranged by Heaven’s Dao or scenes predicted by Heaven’s Dao.

At this point, I can determine that this Primordial Purple Qi was indeed bestowed on me by my Ancestral Master.

Let me think it through.”

Yunxiao didn’t ask further, looking at Li Changshou with gentle eyes, giving him some encouragement.

Half a day later, as the Kun fish galloped through the Chaos Sea, Li Changshou sat on its back behind Yunxiao, rubbed his face with both hands and continued thinking.

The Kunpeng crisis had been resolved, and he had gained many of Senior Predecessor Lang’s foundation materials.

Though that strand of Primordial Purple Qi still had some potential threats, as long as they didn’t let the Kunpeng get near the influence range of Heaven’s Dao’s power, it could barely be considered stable.

And if he was willing to bear some risk, letting the Kunpeng get a bit closer to the Hongmeng, he could comprehend Heaven’s Dao’s principles through this strand of Primordial Purple Qi.

By coincidence, while not accepting Heaven’s Dao’s constraints, he had gained the ‘permission’ to peek at Heaven’s Dao.

But Li Changshou couldn’t feel happy at all right now.

He wasn’t usually an indecisive person, but at this moment he completely couldn’t make up his mind whether to tell Yunxiao the truth.

Telling had its benefits, and not telling had its conveniences.

After thinking the entire way, when approaching the boundary of Heaven’s Dao’s power, Li Changshou finally raised his head.

“Cloud, let’s retreat some distance first, I have something to show you.”

Yunxiao nodded gently, controlling the Kunpeng to turn around.

A moment later, she sat facing Li Changshou, their left and right hands pressed palm to palm, and the scenes appearing in Li Changshou’s Dao heart manifested in Yunxiao’s heart.

[The sky was dark, corpses lay everywhere, and the air was turbid.

In the billowing smoke of war, blurry human figures stood in the sky, broken banners stuck askew in the ground.

A Daoist wearing armor stood in the clouds midair, his form swaying as if about to fall, a huge transparent hole in his chest, yet still raised the golden whip in his hand high, cursing angrily.]

Zhao Gongming.

Yunxiao frowned and pressed her lips together, sitting there in thought for a long while without speaking.

Li Changshou didn’t disturb her, just sighed softly.

He had calculated for so long, arranged for so long, but from the results shown by Heaven’s Dao at this moment, he still couldn’t avoid Elder Brother Zhao’s tribulation.

It was indeed quite disheartening.

Yunxiao suddenly asked: “What was Big Brother saying in Heaven’s Dao’s vision?”

“That… isn’t very important,” Li Changshou said, “The main thing is that this scene predicts Elder Brother Zhao has tribulation ahead.”

Yunxiao said: “This should be a scene predicted by Heaven’s Dao, it won’t necessarily happen.”

“What’s frightening is that Heaven’s Dao might control the changes in tribulation, making future events develop in this direction.”

Li Changshou sighed deeply, and Yunxiao was secretly worried too.

She thought for a while, but still asked: “Were there any taboo matters in what Big Brother said?”

“Not really,” Li Changshou smiled and said, “I’ll let you hear it, though it’s quite a crude language.”

Yunxiao couldn’t help but tilt her head.

[‘You bunch of unfilial miscreants! I’ll censor you all, censored, censored!

What a fine Western Paradise, what fine Sages!

What fine Twelve Golden Immortals!

Denglun you censored egg, you dare covet my Ocean Stabilizing Zhenzhu?

Today I’ll die fighting you a lot, even my remnant soul can still be a deity in the Heavenly Court, still enjoy good food and drink with my little brother Changshou!

Damn!’]